News and updates on current Offaly History projects.

Monastic History

Yes we are extending our events to conclude on 31 August with the Mary Ward book launch about which more in our blogs of 24 and 31 August. In the meantime you
can download a PDF from Offaly County Council Heritage Officer Amanda Pedlow of all the county events. Lots of things including book launches in Geashill and Banagher. Read below about the very special Mary Ward book launch and commemoration in Birr on 31 August. It will be available at the launch and from 1 September at our bookshop. Order now so as not to be disappointed. Here we look at events being organised by Offaly History and with a note from Amanda Pedlow, county heritage officer.

Old Industries of Tullamore (see the blog on Tanyard Lane on 10 August).
Sunday 18 August at 2.30pm from the library in O’Connor Square
The tour includes talks by Noel Guerin and Dan Geraghty on the Tullamore Bacon Factory; John Flanagan on the Tanyard Lane industries from the 1960s; and Michael Byrne on tanning, malting and brewing.
Venue: Tullamore Central Library, O’Connor Square, Tullamore
Organiser: Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society
Email: info@offalyhistory.com
Telephone: 0579321421
Website: offalyhistory.com

The New Offaly Archives Building
at Unit 1F, Axis Business Park.
The good news is that the new archives building is completed and building costs and fees will come in at about €600,000.

The archival records will be moved to the new archive
TOUR, EXHIBITION

Heritage week at Durrow in 2017

Offaly History Library & Exhibition CentreThe tour will be of the library, exhibitions and history shop of the society. The Society premises was opened in 1992 and its holdings, especially the library, have been expanding ever since. The book collection is upwards of 20,000 volumes of which 12,000 are distinct titles. The maps and photographs are also extensive. Some artefacts are collected but these have to be small given size and expertise constraints. The archives collections will be moved out to our new building from September 2019. The lecture hall is much used and seats 80 to 100.
The society’s bookshop has over 2,000 history titles of which 150 are new books on Offaly History for sale in the shop and online.
Venue: Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore
Organiser: Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society
Email: info@offalyhistory.com

Castle Heritage Event 24th August 2019 to include Balliver House (Castle Iver)

There will be a presentation on these matters ,on Balliver House (Castle Iver) itself and the role of the Armstrongs on the forecourt of Balliver House Saturday 24th 1030 am

Thanks to Mary and John Naughton and family Balliver House, formerly known as Castle Iver, is a substantial mid eighteenth-century property with gate lodge, walled garden and farm complex contained within its extensive grounds. The house itself is impressive with full-height bows flanking the central entrance of finely tooled limestone. Though the house was adapted over the passing of time, seen by the glazed and timber porch on the east elevation and large fixed windows to the ground floor, it also retains many original and early features which are typical of the Neo-classical idiom, examples being the curved timber sash windows to the flanking bows. Balliver House, as well as its associated structures, makes an architecturally important contribution to the heritage of County Offaly.

Thanks to De Renzy MSS and Maps c1620s we now know that the townlands of Balliver ,Park,Attinkee , Guernal,Carrick,Kilcamin, Crancreagh etc were all included in Lomcluna ui Flatile (Lumcloon of the Flatterys) . Lomcluna features a number of times in the annals but until now it was incorrectly assumed that Lomcluna Ui Flatile was the townland of Lumcloon ie 2 mile on the Cloghan Road towards Tullamore.. Lumcloon Powerstation etc.
The De Renzy maps show that some of the lands of Lomcluna Ui Flatile -including Balliver – were granted to Arthur Blundell in the Plantations of the 1620s.(De Renzy regrets that “half appertains to MacCoghlan). Blundell was the first sovereign of the Borough of Banagher, he built Fort Falkland and played an active role in local affairs for almost 30 years.
De Renzy mentions Lomcluna a number of times in his letters
“…And Lomcluna na Flaitire being one of the best and greatest plowlands in that countrie….”
One of the De Renzy maps show the 13 plots of land which Banagher Burgessmen owned in Lomcluna.
The MacCoghlans were the chieftains who controlled the Barony of Garycastle for several hundred years . However genealogists say that MacCoghlans “derive their descent and surname from Coghlan son of Flatile”.

“Gillacainnigh Ua Flaithfhileadh Lord of Delvin Beathra (Garycastle) was slain by his brother Aedh ,son of Cochlan Ua Flaithfhileadh” Annals of the Four Masters 1089

Queen Elizabeth granted pardons to several Flatterys for their role in rebellion – swordsmen from Lomcluna !!

OUTDOORS AND ACTIVE, TOUR

A Tour of the Cemeteries of Durrow
This tour will explore the cemetery at Durrow Abbey, as well as the nearby Catholic and the Church of Ireland cemeteries. Readings have been done by members of the society over the years and many are on our website Roots Ireland.
Venue: Durrow High Cross, Durrow Abbey Estate, Durrow
Organiser: Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society
Email: info@offalyhistory.com
Telephone: 0579321421
Website: offalyhistory.com
Date Start Time End Time
Sun 25th 14:30 16:30
(Suitable for Children under 12) (Wheelchair Access – Full) (Car Parking Available) (Free)

Amanada Pedlow, Offaly County Council Heritage office writes:

We have 9 days of Heritage Week starting tomorrow so I am encouraging you to get out and explore the talks, walks and events that communities, individuals and organisations have put on for the week. Some updates below – for the full listing of events see http://www.heritageweek.ie and there are still county brochures available in the libraries.

Carrigeen Farmhouse tour (near Five Alley ) on Saturday at 4.00pm and Monday at 11.00am – there was only an email address provided so if you would like to place on this tour of this very special interior with its original fixtures and fittings please call Anne-Maria Egan on 087 6989650

Gloster Arch Folly and Demesne – Tuesday 20 August – 6pm to 7.30pm
There is an error with the phone number for Tom Alexander so if you have got stuck do try 087 2342135. The conservation of the folly is complete and the evenings at Gloster are always special to see the landscape and house too.

Offaly Archives Tour 11am and 7pm on Monday 19 August – book directly with Offaly History 057 9321421 / info@offalyhistory.com. This is a nationally significant project developing the county archive and well worth getting the insight.

Tour of Raised Bogs in the LIFE project bus tour on Thursday 22 August 10am to 3pm – no charge – book direction with Rona Casey 076 1002627 ronan.casey@chg.gov.ie

NEW EVENT – The Importance of Raheenmore Bog – 22 August, 8pm – 9:30pm, hosted by the Living Bog, Kilclonfert Community Centre
Find out why Raheenmore Bog SAC, 5km from Daingean is one of Europe’s most important raised bogs with an evening at Kilclonfert Community Centre featuring Ronan Casey (The Living Bog) & other guests. Raheenmore Bog is home to some of Europe’s rarest species. Designated as a SAC by the Irish State & a Natura 2000 site by the EU, it is one of the finest remaining examples of a relatively intact raised bog, with deep peat & extensive areas of wet, living bog. It’s being restored by The Living Bog, who are working with the local community on raising awareness of the bog. Find out why it is one of the best examples of Europe’s oldest near-natural eco-systems. Refreshments served.

A London editon of Mary Ward’s, The Microscope

Mary Ward’s Sketches with the microscope, reprinted by Offaly HistoryLaunch and commemoration on Saturday 31 August 2019 at 3.30 p.m. Price of book €20. Very limited run, so book your copy now. It’s in full colour hardback, a delight for all the family of all ages.
Born in Ferbane to the King family of Ballylin, and cousin of the 3rd Earl of Rosse, Mary Ward became a well-known artist, naturalist, astronomer and microscopist. To mark the launch of the reprint of Mary Ward’s first publication ‘Sketches with the Microscope’, Offaly History, Birr Historical Society and Birr Castle invite you to a special afternoon to commemorate her life and work on the 150th anniversary of her death, 31 August 2019. Beginning at the Castle end of Oxmantown Mall, Brian Kennedy of Birr Historical Society will lead a walking tour marking the last journey Mary made from the Castle to the site of the fatal steam-car accident near St Brendan’s Church, the first recorded road fatality in the world. The tour will continue to Emmet Square and to the former premises of F. H. Sheilds the printers who published a limited run of 200 copies of ‘Sketches with the Microscope’ in 1857. Brian will continue to St Brendan’s graveyard and to the Rosse vault where Mary Ward is buried before leading the group to the Courtyard Café in Birr Castle where Offaly History’s new reprint will be launched with the Earl and Countess of Rosse and members of the Ward family of Castle Ward in attendance. The reprint is a faithful full-colour facsimile of the original publication and features new introductory essays by Michael Byrne and John Feehan.

Columba, son of Eithne, daughter of Mac Naue, and Fedelmid mac Ferguso, is one of the most important Irish saints, and the strength of his saint’s cult in the centuries after his death on June 9th, 597 attests to this. Columba, or Colmcille, meaning the dove of the church, was born around 520 as a prominent member of the Cenél Conaill, This was a branch of the northern Uí Néill, a powerful dynastic grouping tracing its origins back to Niall of the Nine Hostages and based in north-western Ireland (Tír Chonaill takes its name from the Cenél Conaill). Columba’s influence extended into political matters as well as the religious sphere, but he is remembered as a monastic saint above all else. Like most early Irish saints, he was never formally canonised.

The old Catholic church at Ballyduff was erected in 1775 and was the first post-Reformation church in Tullamore parish. It was erected in the remote townland of Ballyduff near the centre of Tullamore parish to minimise upset to the authorities at a time when the Penal Laws were still in force. It appears to have been on the boundary of the Coote estate at Srah and that of the Herbert estate (later Norbury) at Durrow –again designed so as to minimize upset to the authorities.

Now the ruin old church is the location for the celebration of a vigil mass early on Easter Sunday morning.

Some background reading for our outing on 8 July, Sunday, to Kilcormac and Ballyboy
Meet in grounds of Catholic church at 3 pm (ample parking) The historic sites of Kilcormac and Ballyboy to include the Catholic church, the parochial grounds, the Mercy Convent, Bord na Mona housing and on to Ballyboy, the village, church, cemetery and old hall concluding with refreshments in Dan and Molly’s celebrated historic pub at 5 p.m. Our thanks to Agnes Gorman, John Butterfield and the other history enthusiasts in the historic barony of Ballyboy. A few members of the committee will be at Offaly History Centre from 2 15 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. for members needing a lift. Continue reading →

On Sunday 8 July, Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society will be visiting sites of historical interest in the Ballyboy and Kilcormac area. This outing has been greatly facilitated by local Agnes Gorman, who recounts here the history of the church in Kilcormac.

About 1,500 years ago, Cormac O’ Liathain, a priest, left Cobh, in Co Cork and travelled to Durrow, in Co Offaly to meet with Columcille, who was Abbot and a priest in the monastery. A short time later, Columcille left for Iona, an island off the west coast of Scotland. Cormac received the “Durrow Crozier” a symbol of authority, but he had a burning sense to become a hermit – his dream site was where the sound of the river would lull him to sleep, the bird song in the daytime and a vista towards the south, with Knockhill and the Slieve Blooms mountains, acting as his ‘satnav’, and that spot chosen is right here in Kilcormac. Continue reading →

On 23rd April I will get another chance to show you some modern clues to our ancient past. I have a lot more evidence than I had when I gave a presentation in 2010. My article on the subject is in OHAS Journal 6, pp 84-98, published in 2011. Here is the short version again just to whet your appetite and encourage you to attend the lecture at Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore at 8 p.m. on 23rd April. Feel free to email me your questions to info@nativeguide.ie so I can answer them on the night. Continue reading →

Mary McAleese kicked off International Women’s Day on 8 March 2018 with a lecture outside the walls of the Vatican – no codology there. She could have adverted to the first woman bishop in Ireland (no man handed her the veil), St Brigid. St Brigid was born at Croghan Hill, County Offaly and not near Dundalk or in Kildare. Her father was of the Fothairt people, mercenaries to the Uí Fhailge dynasty (Kissane, 2017, p. 105). Cogitosus says she was consecrated a virgin at Croghan Hill by Bishop MacCaille who is associated with that place. Will you be there on St Patrick’s Day for the burning of the furze?

An invitation to speak to the Offaly Historical Society on 22 February 2018 caused me to consider whether or not you could tell the history of early medieval Ireland by concentrating on just one county. In the case of Offaly it proved possible.

When written Irish history begins (certainly by the late fifth century) Ireland was a complex patchwork of political units unified by the Celtic language. This Irish speaking culture came to Ireland before 700 along with the use of Iron and other Celtic traditions. A second wave of Celts from central Europe arrived on the island around 300 BC. These were the people that introduced La Tène artistic styles into Ireland.

Much of what we know about these people comes from the discovery of Old Croghan Man in 2003. Found in Offaly near the Meath border, this poor devil was sacrificed sometime around 270 BC. His nipples were sliced as part of the ritual associated with his murder and, tellingly, he wore a bracelet with a La Tène decoration. This is the world that Patrick describes in his Confessio written towards the end of the 400s AD: a world of strange pagan rituals and sun worship.

It would be nice to write that Durrow Abbey house, Tullamore is in course of restoration and that it, the High Cross and Church and the parklands adjoining will soon be properly open to the public. It’s possible but getting more difficult as the house continues to deteriorate. It has been vacant for a considerable time. Councillor Tommy McKeigue drew attention to it recently at Offaly County Council and Paul Moore has reminded us of it in his photographs that are too kind to its present sad condition. But there are hopeful signs. The footpath from Durrow Woods should be completed this year and will allow walkers to come close to the house and the old church at Durrow and High Cross. At least more people will see it and become aware of its potential to midlands/ Ireland East, or is it Lakelands Tourism.